Customer takes umbrage over 'misleading' R704 price tag for wine

27 August 2018 - 06:33 By Nico Gous

Image: iStock

Stop whining. That was the gist of the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA’s) finding in dismissing a complaint by a customer who took umbrage at having to pay R814 instead of R708 for a bottle of wine at Pick n Pay.

Brett Ward complained about an online advert for TJ Krone Brut Rose which was priced at R704.

He argued the advertisement was misleading. He contacted Pick n Pay who told him the advertised price was region-specific.

Pick n Pay said Ward did not read all the information on the advertisement properly. When customers visit the online store for the first time‚ a pop-up prompts them to login to see the prices and products for the region they live in.

The promotion price for the bottle of wine was only applicable to Gauteng customers. When TimesLIVE visited the webpage on Sunday‚ the wine was marked down from R821.99 to R704.

“The product was not however on promotion at that particular store selected by the complainant (Ward) for delivery‚ hence the difference in the price that he initially saw on the home page (namely R704) and the price payable for the product at the Tableview store (namely‚ R814).”

Pick n Pay argued that reasonable customers would have read the frequently asked questions (FAQs) and terms and conditions (T&Cs) on the website.

The ASA ruled that Pick n Pay cannot rely on consumers reading the FAQs and T&Cs. But‚ they added the home page banner welcoming new customers does advise them to login to see accurate prices and that the advertisement contains a pop-up directing customers to login to see the accurate pricing.